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.CX 



PS 1449 
.C2 
Copy 1 



i^ODERN STATP:SMEN 



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A ^ATlllh:. 



\\Y SlDNKV \V. Cool' Kit. 



DLLIVERED BEFORE THE SOCIETY OF ALUMNI OF W I LLIAMS COLLEGE. 
AT THE C\)MMENCEMENT OF THAT INSTITUTION, JUNE a8. ,87.. 



*W ^ ' U. S. A, 



WAS- 







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Poor Milton, struggling, old and blind as well. 

Invokes a muse to pilot him througli hell : 

He trembles, hesitates and dreads n lone 

To tempt the dangers of that toriid zone. 

Poor liumj) backed Pope, too, when the rage is on, 

Stamps, curses, and shouts lustily for Jolm : — 

"Awake, niy St. John, leave all meaner tilings 

To low Ambition and the pride of kings." 

"Hail, mnse ! " sings Byron, Jind tin-ough ch)uds and air 

Comes I'obed in melody, the heavenly fail'; 

Wayward and wicked too, bnt ah, what fire! 

Ken Clio pauses as she takes ilie lyre, 

Awe-struck, then listens to tlie wondrons strain, 

And asks, the muse to sino- it o'er ao-ain. 



In lying tales like tiiose about okl Troy, 

The rape of Helen by a Trojan boy, 

The deeds of arms that goddike Hector wrought. 

The bloody battles that were never fought:, 

The heaps of slain that piled that classic ground, 

The wrath of Jove that shook the world around; 

In tales like these, some better and some worse, 

The muse is asked to help the halting verse; 

And so, from Homer all the way to T upper, 

Bards wdiinefor muses as dogs whine for supper. 



Muses avaunt! hail Truth inspire my song! 

Descend from Heaven where thou hast dwelt too long; 



Oil terra jirina, this, thy whilom seat, 

'V\\y bounding step and glowing face I greet. 

When thieves and hlocklieads in an evil hour, 

Bv fraud and intrigue lift themselves to power, 

When hands unhallowed seize the ship of State, 

Despoil and rob, then leave her to lier fate, 

Eternal Truth 'tis thine to tell the tale, 

7\ye, tell aiwl publish to each whisnerino- oale, 

That Vengeiince, hearing, nia)^ ''Ppb' the rod 

And prove herselT the minister of (jrod ! 

Fools in thy dialect are fools, no more. 

No less, ho\ve\ei' much thy victims roar 

And teiidei- tempting bribes to Sj)a)"e the lash 

Which burns and scorches like the lightning's M.ish. 

Thy sister Wisdom follows in thy train 

And Folly seeks to hide its head in vain, 

Her ari'ow pierces, for her aim is sui'e, 

And Folly dies when feeling most secure. 

Nor names nor titles can obtain thy smile. 

For these too oft but gild the weak — the vile ; 

Thy vision keen, whatever the disguise, 

Detects the knave and brands him ere he Hies: 

And in thy logic which is always cleai'. 

When brays ai-e heard then asses must be near. 



Had ever muse — whate'rher name or fame, 
A field like this wherein to seek her game? 
Was ever aii- so filled, so black with birds? 
Did ever beasts so congregate in herds? 
Seize, quick, O Truth, thy rifle and let fly ! 
Ccmie, sportsmen, and see "^Fodern Statesmen" die. 



Rome fell, but need 1 here repeat tiietale? 

The theme is tli read-bare and the story stale ; 

^l^en centuries of time her gh)ry tills, 

As pfoudly seated on her seven hills, 

Her arms triumphant, as her word was law, 

Invincible, she held the world in awe. 

Still might she sit, jis proudly as of yore, 

Still sit enthroned and count her glories o'er 

J lad Cii^sai- lived, or, dying, left a race 

Of statesmen like him ; but, alas! the place 

Was filled— was filled ? Alas, God hel[) her, no ! 

Was occupied, and only tliat so-so, 

By tyrants, tiaitoi's. and yet worse than all, 

By little men — to these Rome owes her fall. 

And flistory enacts, so says the sage, 

'^i^he ancient drama on a modern stage ; 

Tlie scene is changed, the place is not the same, 

The sti'utting actors only changed in name : 

Augustus reigns — see Rome in splendor rise! 

Domitian rules and all her gloiy dies. 

Cxreat Washington in weakness founds a State, 

Pi'otects and nurses 'till men hail her great, 

Suc(!essive years approve, applaud )he plan. 

Confirm the wisdom of that peerless man, 

And when resplendently her glories shine, 

And Freedom crushed, just lifts her form divine, 

Great God, a Johnson with his drunken leers 

Sets back the glorious tide a hundred years! 

Hold up the pictui-es and the two contrast ! 

Behold the mighty first, then see the last: 

The first by nature fashioned, born to rule, 

Tlie last desiorned and born to be a fool. 



6 



In every breast Ambition lights its tire; 
A man the callow boy would be — liis sire 
Would wreak himself on politics or rlijmc, 
And be the Pitt or Milton of his time. 
Despising these, he sees liis favorite star 
Shine red and fitful through the clouds of war^ 
For gory tields exchanges peace and home 
And barters life for glory and a tomb ; 
Or worse, returns again unscarred, uidiearsed, 
A blundering Bnrnside or a Butler cursed. 
Where lofty spires proclaim the city proud 
There doth it move among the eagei- ci'owd ; 
Far off, tiie hills among, in liamlets i"ude, 
Its trumpet voice disturbs the solitude. 
Mark yonder lad who not ten leagues awav 
From home had evei- dared or wished to stray 
Lea{) at the sound and then with flashing eye 
Go forth, he scarce himself knows whence or wliv. 
Lured by Ambition, which has since the flood 
Drenched the wide nni verse with tears an.d blootL 
The fabled song from charmed Capriea's isle 
Ne'er wooed its victims with so subtle wile. 
The ears of monai'chs tingle at its breath, 
And at its whisper e'en remorseless death 
Starts back afraid and hears the destined corse 
Some Richard shriek " My kingdom for a horse [" 
It breathes of conquest and revenge and, lo I 
An Empire steeped in misery and woe ; 
A crown a madman's foot-liall and a throne 
No beggar yet so poor would call his own. 
See where Bellona rides her horrid cai", 
Her steeds encrinisoned by the the tide of war : 



See tliose fair plains where once in merrj dance 
The happy peasant moved ; alas, see France ! 
See how Ambition witli a tyrant's slaves 
Can desolate and ridge a land with graves. 
Ah, see how poor and pitiless she lies, 
With gaj^ing wounds and supplicating eyes. 
Poor Fi'ance ! no statesman there to heal her woes, 
Or stay the I'avno^e of her victor foes. 



Bat not of crowns and coronets alone 

• 

Doth mad Ambition Imihl its reeking throne ; 

Not ovei- seas wliere despots hold in thrall 

The groaning millions waiting for their fall ; 

Not there alone it points its polished dart 

And hui"ls it hissing to its victim's heart. 

See how e'en- here and at your verj' doors. 

Aspiring Webstei's crowd your Senate floors ; 

See how Ambition mars the plans of fate, 

And lifts a tailor to the chair of state ; 

How blear-eyed bruisers enter quick the lists, 

Renounce theii" muscle and resign their fists ; 

Forsake the Ring, and then in field less gory, 

Pui'sue an ofiice and the bauble glory. 

See how it rising soars from blameless coats 

To " Fame's prcMid temple" through repeated votes, 

And paints foi- liini whose bent or broken nose 

Proclaims his combats with a hundred foes, 

A seat in Congress, and to fill the plan, 

The uni(jue glory of the self-made man. 



As some contagion vile with noxious breatli 



'to 



Taints all tlie aii* with pestilence and dentli, 

So rage for office glows on ev-erv side, 

And hastes to ruin with resistless stride : 

For, not elsewhere as in this favored land 

Do gain and glory travel hand in hand. 

Ambitions paupers shuflfle off their cares, 

For once officials, they are millionaii'es, 

And clearly demonstrate how in our day 

Enormous incomes spring from little pay. 

A splendid palace rears its gilded walls 

For whilom tenants of " ancestral halls," 

Whose scant dimensions, six or eight hy nine, 

Were shared in common with their kindred swine 

A gaudy equipage with arms ablaze 

Speaks not less loudly of the altered days 

OF him who slione the master of his art — 

The blood-stained hero of a butcher's cart. 



And, praj", who would not spurn such menial toils 
And shine a statesman for a statesman's spoils? 
Who with crossed legs would sit and eke out life, 
The unknown hero of ignoble strife? 
Who would stand fortli and hold his j)recious eves 
A buffer's target for a paltry pi-ize ? 

in every hell thsit opens to the' town 

As bar-room heroes do they win renown, 

For Kumor here lets loose her hundred tongU(\s 

Then mounts the housetops and with iron hmgs 

Recounts, with epithets at rivals hurled, 



Tlieir loatlisoine triuinplis to a listentii<>: world. 
Stoi'ies obscene they &pice with bawdy wit 
Which even bi-othels would dcchire unfit; 
lUit here, admiring listeners fill each pause 
With shouts of laugliter and with loud applause. 
They talk of measures as thej^ talk of men, 
Make wise })redicti()ns — tell just wliere and when 
Events momentous will convulse the State, 
Their rise and progress, and as well tlieir fate ; 
Grive in detail the history of their lives, 
And, if encouraged, ylso of their wives; 
And what to them ai'e trifles light as air — 
Domestic seci-ets — here are all laid bare. 
Without or qualm or blush they e'en recount 
How votes were purchased and for what amount; 
IIow ballots never cast were counted in, 
And tricks and frauds enabled tliem to win. 
Kehearse the story, never twice the same, 
How gold and silver pave<l tlieir way to fame. 
Mellowed by wine, moi-e volublQ become, 
Offer their services and name the sum; 
Disclose their secret schemes to rob the state, 
The risks mere trifles and the plunder great ; 
Till when at last they sink, themselves o'ercome, 
Their sober auditors convey them home. 



'I^he starving scribblers who pursue their trade 
[jidite or sell them speeches ready made ; 
They curse one party, and then e'en as well 
Consign the other to the lowest hell ; 
Talk large and loud about affairs of state, 



10 



Now praise, now blame, now laud and now berate 

" Villain" and "traitor" and like gentle words 

Come flying tliick and fast as summer bii'ds; 

And when completed and received their pay, 

Tliey damn their patron on another day. 

Then see these statesmen on the senate floor, 

With purchased speeches how they rave and roar; 

How in mid-air thej^ toss their arms around, 

And stamp and shout, and then the table pound ; 

Fling books and inkstands for their telling hits. 

And roll their eyes as men do when in fits. 

At foreign diplomats then hurl their bolts, 

And dub them minions, hirelings, slaves and dolts 

Kevile their sovereigns and then threaten war, 

Laugh at the ribl)on, ridicule the slar; 

With lavish hand then feed their favorite bird 

With awful adjectives and phrase absurd : 

Tell kings and queens to lift their tyrant's eye 

To where the soaring eagle sweeps the sky ; 

Then talk like jockeys of his splendid })oinls, 

His beak, his tahms and his iron joints — 

Picture his habits and his fiery blood 

And tell how monaichs are his favorite food. 



Ye youth obscure who look with longing eyes 
On these, the statesmen wdio have won the ])rize. 
Let fierce ambition fire your slumbering soul. 
Then seek the way and onward to the goal ! 
Let not the devious, daik and winding pntli, 
Nor yet the thunder of a rivals wrath 
Turn backward him whose practiced eye can ti-ace 



1:1 



The glittering glories that attend oil place; 
Let loose the dogs and scour the open field, 
First find the game, then follov^ 'till it yield ; 
Urge on the hounds till caps are thrown in air 
And victqiy hails her new-born son and heir! 
On genius trample 'till it hides its head — 
Its fires extinguished and its gloi'y dead, 
And crowned at last with laurel and with bay 
You leai-n e'en brutes and l)ullies have their day. 



O, laggai'd Justice, timid, halting, blind, 
'V\\y victims I'un bctoi'e — thou, far behind ; 
Cast off thy bui-dens and with nimble foot 
Leap o'er the ground and hasten the pursuit; 
Strike down these plunderers— these public thieves, 
And strew their carcasses like autumn leaves. 
Halt not, but haste thee, strike them as they fly. 
And let them I'eel keen torture ere they die. 
When stricken down, at last, when brought to bay 
Let dogs devour and wolves consume their prey. 
But Charity, mi Id -eyed, forgiving, kind, 
Ingenious ever an excuse to find, 
Imploring Justice to withhold her spear, 
Foi' such as these e'en di'ops the pitying tear, 
And |)oints to othci'S more degraded still. 
The loathsome cause of every public ill : 
Their sneaking tempters who withliesand gold 
Pursue their victims 'till they're bought and sold. 
Behold this modern devil as he crawls. 
Half snake, half man — he rises and then falls; 
From toothless jaws he darts his forked tongue 



12 



And spits and liisses ns he I'ollvS alongr ; 
Smal], twinkling ej^es no moi'tal e'er l)as seen, 
Look where they are, and lo there eyes have been [ 
He smiles and fawns, sees nil, hears eveiy sound, 
And when alai-tned lies close alono- the tifround : 
Thei'e plotting miscliief 'till his fear is gom; 
Again he rises and his work goes on, 
Pours honied words into his victims' ear 
'Till charmed the most reluctant pause to hear: 
And e'en while listening to the pleasing sound, 
Entwines his helpless victims round and round; 
Encircled and confined witli bands of steel- 
Bands which nor heat nor fire can e'ei- anjieal, 
Fainting they turn and gas])ing as they bleed 
Behold the hideous monster 'INiurlow Weed. 

Gro ask of him why Bribery stalks abroad 

Erects her altar and proclaims her god ? 

Why Crime and fell Corruption, hand in hand 

Lift up their bi-azen front and curse the land ? 

Wh}^, horror-stricken from his snares and toils 

Virtue retires and Intellect recoils? 

And 3^et there are who tremble at his name, 

Who deem that Weed and Virtue are the same ; 

Who bow and ciinge and think themselves the while 

Too happy only to secure his smile ; 

Liken this reptile, crawling on his belly 

To Talleyi-and and e'en to Machiavelli ! 

Alas, poor hapless, ho])eless, blinded tools 

E'en while admiring, they're despised as fools! 



IS 



As one who, sheltered from the wiritiy blast 

l^y bis own liearth recalls the summer past; 

Dwells on each pleasing scene with moistening eye — 

The lake, the mountain and the smiling sky ; 

The tield^ gold-crowned and glorious in the sun ; 

The long, glad days, too brief when they are done : 

'I'hen looks abroad upon the leafless wood: 

The ban-cn fiehls where waving harvests stood ; 

^riie rolling mead, now bleak and brown and bare ; 

The dun, cold clouds that darken all the air : 

WheieVi- he casts Ijis weary eyes ai'ound 

Sees summei-'s wreck eiicumbeiing the ground; 

So backward glance and from the golden time 

When yet a nation gloried in its pi'ime; 

From scenes which charmed coy Fancy from her cell; 

From halls whei'e Eloquence once loved to dwell ; 

Whei'e hung engarlanded her matchless flowers. 

And Wit disported with the dallying Hours; 

Where Clay once thi'illed a rapt and breathless throng- 

The peerless orator — i)orn son of song ; 

Where Webster thundered, and with flashing eye 

Hurled lightning at, the traitor doomed to die; 

Where Hayne, proud son of Hermes, waved his wand 

And swift enchantment bound a willing land; 

From these go see, ye gods 1 the pigmy crew 

Who rule the State, and ruling, ruin too; 

The mighty statesmen who are growing gray 

In drawing mileage and their daily pay ; 

Who comprehend, and solve too, at a glance, 

This all-absorbiiig question of finance ; 

See how they mimic in their little way 

The brawny giants of another day ! 



14 



And first beliold among tlie brilliant tlirono-, 
*The mighty Stevens as lie limps along; 
See liow the minnows quiver, shake and quaif 
And clear the way for this tremendous whale : 
Gods what ;i front and gods with what an air 
This arch-fanatic seeks his waiting chair ! 
How roll his eyes to catch the servile smiles 
or fawning worshippers who crowd the aisles I 
How l)Liz the galleries 'till 'tis whispei-ed round 
Great Thaddeus himself is on the ground ! 
How all with hope and expectation big 
On tip-toe rise to view that famous wig! 
Landed by friends and i-oundly cursed l)y foes. 
All, all admire, and why God only knows I 
A briefless lawyer at a country l)ar 
He sprang to notice in a woidy war, 
There poured such torrents of envenomed bile 
And crowned his foes with epithets so vile, 
Admii-ing bumpkins seized upon his name 
And bore it upwards to the heights of Fame. 
Brow^-beating bully as he first was known, 
Brow-beating bully has he ever shone, 
And this the sum of all he knows to-day 
To hurl an epithet and draw his pa v. 
Yes, more than this, for though his face is sour 
He'll make you laugh and giggle by the hour ; 
And once the cap and bells upcm Ids head, 
His jokes might tickle e'en the sleepijig dead ! 
But it you'd see displayed his briohtest wit 
Just loss a Inirly negro in the pit; 



* The lines following, and relating to this great Statesniau, were written pre- 

ons to hifi rlonfVi '^ 



vious to his death. 



Tlien liold your sides and then prepare to roar, 
Silence all lesser fools, for Stevens has the floor. 
The jokes so quickly nnd so thickly come, 
You'd swear that Africa had heen liis home; 
'I'here grown familiar with her fragrant sons, 
Here coins his knowledge into roaring puns. 
And thus, whiite'ei' may l»e liis varying mood, 
He'll stamp and rave oi- make you jokes as good ; 
Disdaining custom and defving rule, 
The clown of Congi-ess and the Nation's fool ! 
Whate'er the theme or subject of debate 
He'll laugh it down, or, failing, grow irate, 
llien, gods of Hellas, how he cracks his whip ! 
His frightened followers, how^ they leap atid skip ! 
Beg loud for mercy on their bended knees, 
Prepai-ed to worship so they only please ! 
A statesman ? Tell me when he helped the State, 
What has he planned, what don^to make her great? 
Where is the monument whose towering head 
Shall tell his deeds when he who wrought is dead? 
What splendid project has he e'er designed ? 
What brilliant scheme to elevate mankind? 
Where stands recorded on the burning page 
The eloquence which thrills and moves the age? 
The uttered wisdom and the thousfhts sublime 
Which lift the soul and triumph over time? 

Next see — but no, for even Satire's self 
Would lay the sickening theme upon the shelf 
And say, retiring, "let the curtain fall, 
For seeing one you e'en have i^eew them all." 



16 



Untraveled iuid uni-ead, tlieii" narrow mind 
Hampered by prejudice — b}^ self confined. 
Knowing no other and desiring none, 
Sees but one country, and that one their own. 
The splendid lights which stream from ancient Rome, 
Freedom's own bii'thplace and her pristine home; 
The deeds of glory which have made her name 
Sound longest, loudest in the trump of Fame: 
The lessons taught by Empires in decay 
Which strew the years like mile-stones on the way, 
For these are naught but sights and sounds of drend 
Voices from tombs and sinidows of the dead. 
¥o\' the?n in vain Horatius stemmed the tide 
Tlie stake his countrj^ and his country's pride — 
Changed yellow Tiber to the deepest red 
And piled the bi-idge with heaps of foemen i\ei\d : 
l\irned then triumphant fi-om the scene of blood. 
Leaped in the stream and swam the angry flood. 
In vain did Muctius show a tyrant King- 
That lire and flame for heroes have no sting-- 
Though arins may wither — hands in ashes fall — 
The soul unconquered, triumphs overall. 
In vain, O, Sparta, did thy chosen band 
Fight for the Pass and for their native land — 
Lie down in death to check, retard the foe 
Who hastened on to strike the fatal blow. 
To rise unselfish and to laugh nt fate, 
To fight, and failing, ch'e to save a State — 
To them, these are but fictions, fancies wild. 
Or e'en at best but tales that please a child. 



J7 



1^lie undying thoughts of evei'v climy niid age 
For tliem ilhunine the immortal pnge ; 
Wit, eh*)quence, phiK)Soph_v and song 
Shine first jukI foremost in the splendid tlu'ong 
And stauding near to these and just behind 
The Arts tliat elevate and bless mankind. 
Learning's rieh treasures and her inusty spoils- 
Jiecords of heart-aehe and unending toils — 
To these their gohlen gates fling open wide 
And show the temple whei'e the gods abide. 



^rhey enter in, and having looked about, 
Are soon disgusted and are sooner out — 
Like not the place, the occupants, the air, 
And make objections to the bill of fa.re ; 
Displeased with this — tarn up their noseattliat— 
These viands are too lean, and these too fat: 
The wines too new, oi- if not new% too sour — 
They swear they'll not remain anrjther hour; 
Declare the Grecian roots too tough by far, 
And wdsh them bai-ied wdth tlie Trojan war; 
The Latin nonsense and the Roman schools 
They deem, at best, but nurseries of fools ; 
Wish Socrates had either lost liis tongue 
Or drank the hemlock while he yet was j^oung ; 
Thus cared for Plato ne'er had racked his brain 
In foolish hopes to make his master plain ; 
Curse Homer, and all other singing Greeks, 
And deem their songs, at best, l)ut crazy freaks ; 
Are much surprised that TuUy should so whine 
About a reneo'ade like Cataline; 



•J'.s 



But m(;re surprised l)y far that what he said 
Should rind a publishei- and now be read. 
Livy they looked on as an aiTant liai'. 
And toss liis fables in the neai-esf fire 

And, so, ve men of Greece and Eonie behohl [. 
You are iov these some centuries too old; 
Your logic muddled, and 3^our fables stale, 
They laugh at you and at your language rail ; 
Think robes and togas for an antique sage 
Were well when robes and togas were the lage ; 
But sneer at garments cut like these to-daj, 
Glance at you once, then turn their eyes Jiwav. 

Of men more modern — men of later dale, 

^iliev talk the longest and the loudest prate; 

Imbibe the wisdom and adopt the style 

Of Victor Hugo, or of Tom Carlyle, 

And hide, like them, while peoples wink and laugh. 

A grain of wheat beneath an Alps of chalf. 

Attain to statecraft in the modei-i> way. 

By first inquiring ''will this project pay ?'" 

Then Avelcome tarifl' and begone free ti-ade. 

Or dut}^ off and tariff in the shade ! 

With silly schemes whose number foots a score. 

They build Utopias with Sir 'Hiomas More: 

And leai-n their maxims from some venial sheet. 

Or else from brawlers who harangue the sti-eet. 

Poor shallow fools, they never stop to think 

That not from fountains bnt from stri^jmis tlie\ drink' 



lit 



Strojims tliick and iiiuddj mid some miles away 

Fmm where tliey rise and sparkle into day. 

With drauglits drawn tlience in a resistless flood 

Along their veins wonid leap the crimson blood; 

Health paint tlieii- clieeks and liglit their eyes with fire 

Till men would envy and the gods admire. 

I'o save their coanti-y fr«)m all tlireatened harm, 

Like aneient athletes wield the brawny arm. 

Pursue lier foes (and e'eii would make them feel), 

Wnth lind)s as su[)ple as the bending steel. 

With eunning lian.d tlien built] the crrowino: State 

ill fair prop(^rtion as d<^signed by Fate; 

On br<»ad foundations would the structure rise 

Until its spires should pierce the arching skies ; 

Its gi'aeeful columns and its towerino; walls 

Stand sentinel before its spacious halls; 

There sturdy Sti'ength with witching Beauty try 

And Art with Science for the victory vie. 

Beneatlr its dome the oppressed of all the eaith, 

Of every clime, whate'er theii* name of birth, 

Would find a shelter from the biting Idast, 

And thank their God that here was home at last! 

And sucli, my countiy, miglit thy fut\ire be : 
Such glories crown, such splendoi's wait on thee — 
K'eii more than Grreeee, than Rome has ever been, 
T^he noblest fabi'ic tliat the world has seen ; 
And Propliecy has ke})t the half untold, 
II" men like these thv destinv controlled. 



Kilboiinie Tompkins, Printer, 16 Cedar Street, N. Y. 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 

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